Ty's 2023 NFL Season Predictions

The next two days will wrap up my preseason football predictions and preview. Today will be the NFL playoff and award predictions and tomorrow will be my massive NCAA football preview. Let us tarry no longer, on with the NFL playoffs and award preview and predictions.

I'll start with the AFC.

The Chiefs should be the number 1 seed, and probably the best team in the NFL this season. They are loaded and they are at the beginning of this dynasty. Their own threat in the division will be the Chargers, who will have to settle for a wild card spot. The AFC East might be the toughest division in the NFL. All four of the teams have a legit shot to be above .500, but I'm going with the Dolphins. I have a ton of respect for what they have built, and they are working their way to being a true contender. The Bengals are the class of the AFC North. If everyone can stay healthy on that offense, they will be explosive and put up a ton of points. The AFC South is not very good, but the Jaguars are young and gained some solid playoff experience last season. They should win this division going away. So the Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins and Jags are my four division winners. I already mentioned the Chargers as a wild card team. I think the other two wild card teams will be the Ravens and Bills. That means no Jets, no Titans and no Broncos in the playoffs this season. The AFC is tough. The Chiefs will get the first round bye. They will get the winner of the Jags, who will be the four seed, and Ravens, the five seed. I see the Ravens winning this game and heading to Arrowhead. Lamar Jackson got paid, they have weapons and the defense is legit. The 3-6 matchup will feature the Dolphins and Bills. The Dolphins will have home field and should be amped for a home playoff game for the first time in forever. The Bills have a massive amount of talent, but they cannot get over the hump. That will continue this season with the Dolphins winning this game. The 2-7 game will feature two of the best offenses in the NFL with the Bengals and Chargers. Both teams will score a ton, but the Bengals are so much better and will win this game going away. So we will have the Chiefs playing the Dolphins and the Bengals playing the Ravens. I'd love to pick some upsets here and see either the Ravens or Dolphins win. That would be great. It won't happen though. The Chiefs and Bengals are far better than their opponents and they will meet in the AFC title game. I really want to pick the Bengals here. I want my nephew to see his team continue to be great. I want to see this young offense continue to thrive, but the Chiefs are the Chiefs. As long as they have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce they will be good to go. They should also have Chris Jones by this time and he is going to wreck backfields when he gets back with the Chiefs. The Chiefs will be in the Super Bowl again.

Now to the NFC.

The NFC is solid, but not as good as the AFC. The Eagles are going to win the East. They are on an upward trajectory and Jalen Hurts should be in the MVP conversation yet again. They will be the NFC's overall number 1 seed. The Lions are going to win the North and their playoff drought will finally be over. Lions fans will be able to celebrate and have a real reason to be excited. They are going to be good this season. The AFC South is bad. I really have no idea who will win here. The division winner could have seven or eight wins. It is that rough. I'm going to go with the Saints because they have the most experience.  The 49ers are going to crush the West with their dominant defense and run game. That offense might only need to average 17-20 points a game for them to win a ton. So the four division winners guaranteed to make the playoffs are the Eagles, Lions, Saints and 49ers. The three wild card teams will be the Seahawks, Cowboys and Giants. The Vikings and Packers are not here. The Rams need to rebuild. These seem like the three best options. The Eagles will get the bye and face the winner of the 4-5 game, which will feature the Saints and Cowboys. This game will be interesting. The Cowboys should dominate, but Mike McCarthy is the head coach and they have blown a ton of easy games. I'm going to pick the Cowboys, but the game will be far too close for comfort. The 3-6 game will highlight the Lions and Giants. This is going to be a low scoring affair featuring two solid defenses and lots of running. I'm going to pick the Lions because I think their defense is a little further ahead than the Giants at this time. That will carry them to a playoff win/ The 2-7 game will be an inter division clash between the 49ers and Seahawks. The Seahawks will keep it close for a half and then the 49ers will pull away. Christian McCaffrey or Deebo Samuel are going to make a big play to open the game up and it will be over from there. So we now have the Eagles facing the Cowboys and the 49ers facing the Lions. It is chalk again unfortunately. I'd love to pick the Lions. That would be the coolest. I would be so happy. But the 49ers are better. They have the defense the Lions are striving to be already and their run game will grind clock. The 49ers will return to the NFC title game. The Eagles are better than the Cowboys and they should cruise. Hurts will run them to death and then make big throws to Devonta Smith and AJ Brown. The Eagles defense will suffocate the run game and force Prescott into timely turnovers. We will have a rematch in the NFC title game. But this time, again much to my dismay, the 49ers will win. They are primed to, and this time their third string QB won't get hurt. I'll be rooting hard for the Eagles, and I would love to see a rematch of last season's incredible Super Bowl, but the 49ers will prevent that. They are heading to face the Chiefs.

All that being said, the Chiefs will be the only team to crack the 49ers defense and they will win a second straight Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes will further cement his legacy as one of the best to ever play the game and win another Super Bowl MVP. The Chiefs will win Super Bowl 58.

As for regular season awards, first off coach of the year will be Dan Campbell. The Lions feed off of this guy and that shows. They are getting better. MVP will be Joe Burrow. He is coming for Mahomes' belt, which he won't get yet, but Burrow is fastly becoming one of the best QB's in the NFL. Offensive Player of the Year will be Burrow's running mate, Ja'Marr Chase. He is fast becoming the best wideout in the NFL, and he will be putting up big numbers in important games. Defensive Player of the Year will be Fred Warner. He is going to be wrecking backfields and I expect a big number of turnovers from him at his linebacker position. Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Zay Flowers. He is going to put up big numbers in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson will throw to him a lot. Defensive Rookie of the Year is Will Anderson Jr. He is going to look like a star right away and he will give Texans fans hope.

Okay, there you all have it, my 2023 NFL preseason rankings, playoff preview and awards predictions. Take it all with a grain of salt and get ready to enjoy NFL football in less than two weeks. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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